The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

took a pair of scissors from the table and cut Jack’s T-shirt open. Liz returned with Bill’s medical kit. She dumped it on the floor and opened the top. Bill reached in and took out a stethoscope.
    “Mummy, what’s going on?” Francis said. “Is Jack going to be all right?”
    Liz took Francis in her arms.
    “Yes, dear,” she said, “Jack’s going to be fine. He’s just sleeping. Do Mummy a favour and go down to your brothers.”
    “Okay.”
    Francis tottered off to the winch and pedalled himself down.
    “What happened?” Liz said to Bill. “I heard explosions.”
    “We blew up the boat, and then Lurchers came spilling out of it. We got to the bridge and they followed us. We were about to blow it up too, but Jack saw one of the Lurchers pick up the tube and was about to hurl it. So, he stepped up and stopped him.”
    Liz covered her mouth. Her eyes shimmered with tears.
    “Is he going to be okay?” she said.
    Bill pressed the stethoscope to Jack’s chest.
    “His heart’s fine,” he said. “He’s breathing normally.”
    Bill inserted the otoscope into Jack’s bleeding ear. He angled it to peer inside.
    “Why’s there blood coming out of his ear?” Liz said.
    “It’s his eardrum,” Bill said. “It was perforated by the explosion.”
    “Will he ever be able to hear again?” Liz said, voice shaking.
    “I don’t know. There’s a lot of damage. There’s nothing I can do without full surgery equipment. We’ll have to wait and see.”
    “I suppose Nip will have to be his ears for a little while.”
    Bill’s face scrunched up. He sat back and put his hand over his eyes.
    “I thought we’d lost him, Liz,” he said. “I thought he was gone.”
    “Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh,” Liz said, taking Bill in her arms. “He’s all right. He’s going to be okay. If the worse comes to the worst he’ll have to rely on his left ear more, that’s all.”
    Bill cleared his throat and breathed in a ragged breath.
    “He was a little hero today,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him.”
    There was a reflective pause. Liz brushed a tear out of the corner of her eye.
    “We should let the boys know he’s going to be all right,” she said. “They must be worried sick.”
    “Yes,” Bill said, but he didn’t move.
    “I’ll wash him,” Liz said. “You go tell the boys. And prepare his bed. He’ll need to rest.”
    Bill wiped his eyes and sniffed through his blocked up nose.
    “All right,” he said. “And after we put him to bed we’ve got to discuss what we’re going to do.”
    Liz frowned.
    “With Jack?” she said.
    “No,” Bill said. “About the Lurcher invasion.”

 
     
    Nine
     
    “There are only two ways the Lurchers can cross to our part of the island,” Bill said.
    On a map, Bill pointed to a narrow strip of land in the north labelled Flamingo Marsh. The island was a crescent shape, with a large river running from the north through to the south, dividing the land into two parts. The east coast, where the Robinsons lived, was three times larger than the west.
    “The only other way across was the bamboo bridge,” Bill said, “but obviously, that’s no longer an option.”
    Bill crossed the bridge off the map.
    “Which means,” he said, “they will have to advance to the north and cross Flamingo Marsh before turning south and coming at us.”
    Liz, Fritz, Ernest and Francis nodded in agreement.
    “The way I see it,” Bill said, “we have two options. We meet them face-on and die, or we employ our evacuation plan. Our only real option is to leave.”
    “No!” Francis said. “I like it here!”
    “The next island will be even better,” Bill said. “You’ll see.”
    “I don’t want to see. I want to stay here.”
    “Make no mistake, if we stay, they will come down on us without mercy.”
    “How long do you think we have?” Liz said.
    “Two days,” Bill said. “Three, tops.”
    “How many of them were there?”
    “Hundreds. Maybe thousands.